Stockholm Overground

IN RECENT MONTHS Stockholm has had a tremendous increase of ‘illegal’ clubs, raves and events. Several different groupings of people have held numerous nights at different locations – often switching location after each party.

Due to the fact that there’s not a decent club in Stockholm for either techno, house or dubstep, the community have moved into a new direction with a “do-it-yourself” attitude. Creating a constant atmosphere of what people want often involve in long hour sessions of clubbing, a commercial-wise non-selling music and supplying a space for people to do what they want – the different obsolete laws in Sweden regarding “night clubs”, corrupted sanctions of how long a location can be open and also the misunderstanding about electronic dance music create a empty space for clubbers and music lovers in Sweden in general, and Stockholm specifically.

photo by Per Löv - per@jornlov.se

As irritation becomes innovation, people are now getting together and hosting parties in the outskirts of downtown Stockholm, often taking money from their own pockets, getting everything together and working all night as ‘bartenders’, DJs, doormen and as cloackroom attendants themselves. Some of these groups of people want to remain anonymous, naturally, for both security and personal reasons. Others tend to bend a bit on what’s low-key promotion and how frequent they run, thus risking a lot more.

Having some participation in the scene gets you involved, so I thought I would interview one of the most (if not THE most) interesting underground producer from Stockholm that I know of – PATTERN.

PATTERN is a low-key producer, who is from somewhere in Stockholm, creating Detroit-inspired techno. Using only hardware and some software in his productions, he creates tracks that are so groovy and funky you wonder why he isn’t revealing his identity – well, not yet anyway.

Tell me what made you want to make techno, was there an experience or a special track that got you started?

Music has always been in my life, so it was natural for me to start producing. I was also always very curious about how things work, especially when I was a teenager and listened to electronic music a bit more seriously. I often wondered “how did they do that?” The feeling I got from electronic music was like a cartoon, everything is made possible even if it doesn’t fit in reality, you are your own limitation. I’d like to say it’s music built on fantasy, at least for me anyway. I don’t think there’s any special “moment” that got me going.

What do you think about all the software produced techno, for example the music made only on computers?

I don’t see anything wrong with it really, humanity and technology always move forward and they probably affect each other. I make a lot of music on software myself. The best approach is to use everything, because then you get the best of both worlds. It doesn’t matter how sound is created, in which way it’s created, the important thing is how the result sounds when it’s finished. One must find an environment in which you feel comfortable and safe, because then you’ll do the best work.

PATTERN is a project of mine. The idea is to make music solely on hardware in order to experiment with new sounds. I think it’s very important to allow yourself to experiment and just play around with sounds and equipment. That’s how you learn. Making sounds on hardware often take more time for me and the sounds get more personal because I know that I’ve put in a lot of work into creating and tuning them. So it’s a slower process naturally.

What do you think about the outlook of hardware produced techno in the near future?

Hard to say, I think those who work with hardware today are older producers who started with it and that’s what feels best for them. Hardware also has a special sound that doesn’t sound like anything else. But hardware is probably fading away. Now that you have thousands of software’s anybody can create techno / music. So in one way it’s good that there’s a new generation that’s interested. Who knows, maybe the computer will be a piece of hardware in the future, because who knows how we will make music in the future, hehe.

Stockholm, if not entire Sweden as such, has a strong connection to techno. Foremost with Adam Beyer, Cari Lekebusch and those involved within and around Drumcode. What is their position in the techno scene today? Do they have the same position today as they had before?

I actually really don’t know, I don’t think they have the same position in regards to all the new DJs and producers that show up all the time. It’s probably hard for them to stay put and “fight” against the new generation, but at the same time they’ve always done their thing which is respected because that’s what music is all about. We are probably thankful to them in many ways because they’ve put Swedish techno on the map and they’ve been into it from the start. I’m a big fan of both Adam [Beyer] and Cari [Lekebusch]. Both their labels are legendary and after all fantastic releases over the years it’s phat that they’re still rocking it.

The underground clubs are crawling in Stockholm. After the closure of Esque, there’s really no alternative than the underground clubs. How do you think that effects the scene?

I don’t think Stockholm is such a good clubbing city at all. We live in the wrong country for those things. Despite that, Stockholm has a great amount of good musicians in regards of being such a small city. The only real club that’s been in Stockholm in my opinion is Docklands, but unfortunately the 90’s are over. It was a brilliant time and I’m grateful that I could take a part of all the wonderful years of fat techno parties there

You’ve just gotten a digital release on Naked Lunch, ’No Subject EP’. Do you think that vinyl releases is dying out to make way for digital releases?

I love vinyl and I will always love it. I always fight to get my music on wax if it’s possible. Or if it’s both a digital and vinyl release, there’s no problem with that. But yes, vinyl is expensive and a hassle, not even the big labels care to bother with 12”-es nowadays. With Beatport it’s simple and quick and more people has access to the music. But personally I think it’s shit. What did one make before Beatport? Yeah, vinyl and in some cases CDs. I think it’s sad because the sound of vinyl is the fattest, it can’t be compared. I also feel that I don’t want to put in time, love and soul in my music if it’s going to be released digitally. Even if many clubs run with CD nowadays, I want to contribute to the world of vinyl to both wax lovers and collectors, because I know how much vinyl means to me.

Since you produce solely on hardware, what’s your opinion on the digital development as a whole?

As I said, I use both soft- and hardware. But I have a quite positive view on the digital development, because with software you can do things not possible with hardware, and if you can, it’s a thousand times harder and more work. Maybe the ‘things’ that make you appreciate good music is made only on hardware but it’s impossible to stop the development, so it’s just to go with the flow and smile I presume. And to do your thing without regard to what people think about it. There’s pros and cons to everything.

To always be yourself, do your music that you like and enjoy. Music should be something personal. Take your time without stress and create your world, then people will appreciate who you are for what you are.